A Calculated Risk
by Nightheart
Summary: 8th squad Lt Nanao Ise has a long-running problem with both independence and celibacy brought about by her clingy, overprotective and relentless captain. The solution? Renji Abarai. crack pairing: Ise and Abarai; WTF or FTW, you decide!
1. Chapter 1

A Calculated Risk

He hated these functions. Stuffed into his formal dress uniform, forced to rub elbows with a lot of higher ups that (aside of his fellow Reapers) would probably spit on him sooner than look at him, and on top of that being fed tiny little portions of food and weak, fizzy booze. Still, his Captain had ordered him to attend, so attend he did. Despite his slightly outre appearance, Renji had been garnering admiring looks for the whole time he'd been staking out the food bar. However, he knew better than to mess with _these_ girls, they had powerful noble fathers who would probably come after him with a sword and a marriage contract if they caught him showing their daughters a good time.

"Well," said a familiar voice right next to his elbow. "Don't you clean up."

Renji turned over to look at the voice he recognized as belonging to his fellow lieutenant, Nanao Ise from Eighth Squad and was momentarily taken aback, so much so that he actually did a double take. He was accustomed to thinking of her in terms of her formidable, uptight demeanor, her rigid self control, and her ever-present aura of extreme professionalism (and the fact that she was always having to brutally rebuff the unwelcome advances of her superior officer). But right then, she looked so different he hardly recognized her. The glasses she always wore were nowhere in sight, making her face seem rounder and softer instead of hard and angular, her hair was down from its tightly confining clip, but was instead half up in a loose bun with curled tendrils framing her face and shoulders. Her body was not hidden by her uniform, but was instead enhanced by an indigo-hemetite sheath of a dress. Renji hadn't really noticed it before but Nanao had a nice little figure going on; nice legs, shapely hips, great rack, no wonder her captain was always chasing after her.

"Right back atcha," he said, turning fully and complimenting her by visibly taking a moment to take it all in and appreciate the view. "You look good."

And she did, sexy and elegant both, a real classy girl. It made Renji wonder if there was a real woman under that scary demeanor. He had heard that it was always the uptight ones that were really wild in the sack, and right then, she looked good enough to eat. Renji might have thought about making a try for her himself, but for two factors; one, her Captain probably wouldn't be so understanding of his having a tryst with the very woman that Kyoraku was forever trying to land for himself (Captain Kuchiki wouldn't thank his lieutenant for starting an inter-division war just to satisfy his libido and curiosity) and the woman herself was quite well known for her violent rejection of offers. Renji didn't want to offend her, though among Reapers, rules of sexual conduct were lax as long as a veneer of professionalism was maintained. He wouldn't mind seeing what she was like with her hair down, but there was no way she'd ever go for it. He was Renji Abarai, brash, stupid, and utterly Rukongai, and she was Nanao Ise, intelligent, refined and proper in the extreme. No way in the _world_ would she ever even look twice at him.

"Are all those medals yours?" she asked next, pointing to all of the honors for valor in the field he'd won over the years.

"People keep asking that, but yeah... all me ba-by," Renji smirked, drawing back his shoulders to display his pips proudly.

Nanao crooked a finger at him.

"You have something in your hair, allow me," she told him.

Gamely, Renji bent down so she could fix whatever it was she had spotted. It was so _like_ her to be a bastion of order even in so relaxed a setting as a party. She motioned that he should come closer so he bent his head until he was right at her level. He was shocked when, under the pretense of fixing his collar she murmured something softly in his ear.

"Would you like to get out of here?" she asked him.

For a veteran of as many trysts and light of loves as Renji had been into and out of over the years (hey, being in love didn't preclude enjoying the pleasures of the flesh, and Renji liked his women) there was absolutely no mistaking the tone of invitation in her voice. He stared at her in dumb-founded shock. Uptight Lt Ise was asking him if... no surely not.

"I'm sorry?" he said in confusion.

He had to have misunderstood. But to his further surprise, Ise's cheeks pinkened a little in embarrassment (which just made her look deliciously cute) as she said

"I know you're not with anyone else, so I was wondering if you'd like to... um, keep me company. Somewhere a little more private. Like my quarters."

Renji's eyes widened and he said the first thing that came to his mind.

"Are you trying to get me killed?"

They both knew what he meant.

"Come now Lieutenant Abarai," Nanao said with this smile that was all womanly sexiness (which suddenly made him conscious of the fact that her lips, far from being thin and disapproving, looked made for kissing). "You never struck me as the sort to shy away from a confrontation when the stakes are right."

He looked over at his fellow Lieutenant with some justifiable suspicion. To the best of his knowledge she'd always dismissed him the way a woman of her obvious intelligence would dismiss him... as being too stupid to bother with. So what was up now that she wanted to suddenly hit the sheets with him?

"Uh-huuuhhhh," he said, not bothering to hide his skepticism.

Ise looked back at him and her cheeks flushed further. She cleared her throat and assumed a little more of her normal businesslike demeanor as she motioned Renji off to a more private corner where they wouldn't be overheard.

"You're a little more perceptive than I gave you credit for Abarai," she replied with a tone that was more brisk than the one she'd used a moment ago. "So I'm going to level with you."

"I'm listening," Renji said ignoring the assumption she'd made about his intelligence.

"Picture this with me. I'm a normal, not unattractive woman in her prime."

Renji nodded with another long once over to be sure. Yep, not unattractive alright, and she got better on closer veiwing.

"I have a good job, good prospects. I should be receiving offers. Offers which I would have the freedom to accept or to reject at my discretion. But instead, I am forced to toil, _endlessly_, day in and day out with an insolently _lazy_ Captain who foists all the work off on me and actually makes me _chase him down_ so I can get my job done! Not only that, he is forever making passes at me that I'm forced to reject in the most emphatic manner possible so that he and everyone else around me can _take a hint_, but apparently hope springs eternal for him."

"And he has an eternity in which to hope," Renji said, his face clearing as she finally got where she was going with her tirade.

"I see you understand. Lieutenant. I'm over seventy and there hasn't been a man in my bed for... longer than I care to think about."

Renji's tattooed brow furrowed in obvious puzzlement and he came right out and said

"But you an' everyone else have gotta know there's someone throwing himself at you everyday ta try an' change that."

"And that's also my point. He's been so obvious and so determined in his pursuit of me that no one else will even look twice at me. I feel stifled. It's gotten to the point where I can barely breathe anymore!"

Renj turned sympathetic at hearing of her plight. It would have been one thing if Nanao Ise had thought her Captain's antics were kind of cute, but she obviously didn't, and so... they weren't cute, they were sexual harassment and that sort of thing could build up to be very stressful over time. She hid it very well behind her strong front of formidable professionalism but Renji looked a little closer at her and saw signs of weariness and care that he hadn't ever noticed before. Those glasses hid circles under her eyes and if her back wasn't one enormous knot of tension his name wasn't Renji.

"Every single other person I could think of would, and has, backed the hell off and ran away as fast as they could if I so much as looked twice at them because there he is, glaring at them over his shoulder," she continued, sounding a little bit desperate despite her clear efforts to keep up her usual facade. "I only want a little space, a little independence. A life of my _own_!"

"So how do I fit into all of this? I mean, not that I'm not flattered you'd consider me an' all, but I think both of us here know ya ain't the type ta leg-shackle yerself to a neanderthal, no matter how sexy I am."

Ise shot a droll look at Renji's preening grin, but didn't deny the sexy part, he noted.

"I've tried being subtle and I've tried being obvious, _nothing_ has worked!" Ise replied. "I just simply don't see anything for it but to force the issue. If I'm to have any hope at all of gaining even a modicum of independence from him I need to be able to draw boundaries and have him respect them... and my Captain, for all of his other virtues, is no great respecter of boundaries."

"I gotcha so far, but where do I come in?"

"You're the only lieutenant I know of who has stood toe to toe with a Captain and come out of it still breathing," she held up a hand to forestall his protest that Renji hadn't come out of his confrontation with Sixth Squad Captain with anything more than his life and body intact.

"Whether or not you were defeated has little to do with this situation, the point that interests me is that you tried at all. You're not afraid to take up a fight and hold the line. _I_ can't fight him and defeat him, and when I stand up to him, he just thinks it's _cute_. Head Captain won't transfer me to another squad over the protests of his favorite son. Frankly, Renji, you're all I can come up with."

"I'd love to help you out Ise, I mean..." he looked her up and down again. "I mean, I'd really love to help you out. But, um, you should know that my heart lies elsewhere."

It was perhaps the worst kept secret in the Seireitei, thanks to Rangiku who had gotten it out of Kira in a drinking session once and then promptly blabbed it to everyone else. Now _everyone_ knew of his feelings for Rukia except, it seemed, the recipient of them.

"That's perfectly alright," she assured him quickly. "In fact it might be better that way. We can go our separate ways in the end and I'll have my independence and you'll have..."

"Some nice memories, it looks like," Renji supplied with a slight leer.

He might be in love, but he wasn't a man who took well, rather make that_ at all_, to celibacy. Renji kept his light of loves discrete but in among his hunting ground in Fourth were a certain number of nurses who might quietly sing his praises.

"Besides, yer right about my not backing down from a fight. I don't see a problem with takin' on yer Captain if he wants ta have a go. I'd like the practice. Captain Kuchiki's always sayin' I need help of refining my technique with my Bankai, and Zaraki always says ya don't get any better by picking fights with opponents weaker than you... well, not that Kuchiki's weaker than me, but I'm used ta fighting against him, I'd like ta change it up a bit. So, I'd be more than happy to ah, help out yer little celibacy problem. I'm not sayin' I'm gods gift to women but I've never had any complaints about my ability to keep a woman happy."

Ise's cheeks pinkened at his unusually straightforward manner of speech with regards to that. He looked sort of proud of himself and it only made her more conscious of the way he filled out a uniform, and that brought back to memory the results of some of the discrete inquiries she'd made around his known hunting grounds in Fourth, and their assurances of his delightful treatment of a woman sharing his bed. If he was proud of it, rumors were that his pride was justifiable. After all, Nanao Ise hadn't only picked him for his fighting abilities. She too, found him attractive in a rough, animalistic sort of way. If she was going to break decades of celibacy, she really had it in mind to do it right.

"So when should we schedule our first assignation?" she asked, turing all-business again, despite the blush. She even pulled out a small note pad and pencil from heaven only knew where to schedule and appointment for heaven sake.

Renji gave her one of his long, famous, flat looks and took the paper and pen from her, shaking his head and looking bemused.

"First things first. You've obviously been out of action for a long time. Ya don't just schedule great sex like ya make an appointment with yer hairdresser... nine times out of ten it just _happens_."

Renji scrawled a quick note and signaled a waiting servant nearby. When the servant came over he handed the note over and told him to give it to his captain. Nanao did the same but before the servant could leave to deliver the note that said she'd had enough of the party for one evening and was more interested in going home to bed (it wasn't entirely a lie either) Renji stopped him and slipped him a ten-note.

"Wait an hour, and then deliver it," he instructed the servant, with a wink. The servant smiled back and wandered off with his tray, note safely in his pocket.

Renji turned on his voluntary new prey and scooped her up easily. Nanao made a small squeak of surprise, a flutter of nerves in the pit of her stomach making her wonder if she might not have been a little hasty in her designs. Renji smiled and bent over to kiss her soundly, his mouth making love to hers with untamed animal passion. Any qualms were quickly forgotten in the rush of heat that his expert kiss woke up from its decades-old sleep within her body. His tongue caressed her mouth with lusty delight as the feel of one of his hands pressing up through the slit in her dress to stroke her thigh made her shiver and moan softly into his mouth. It had been so long since she'd felt these sensations... _so **long**_.

Renji blurred out into flash-step bouncing lightly over the rooftops into the night and ascending with barely a whisper of noise in front of the lieutenants apartment in Eighth Squadron.

* * *

**I know it's not Chasing Shadows but this weird little gem just suddenly came to me one day while I was musing about who would make a really odd match for Renji to be with. The premise for it came to me and it sort of wrote itself from there. Just as a warning, it has lemons in it because well, frankly I don't think it would work without it. It took me over a month to work my way past my embarrasment about posting it but I didn't have anything for Chasing Shadows and I haven't posted anything in a while. So please let me know what you think. **

**On another note, since this is my little corner, I'm going to take the opportunity to shamelessly plug something else I'm going to be posting in another (less frequently trafficked fandom). If anyone has seen the anime Legend of Twelve Kingdoms (if you haven't it's really well done so you should go watch it!) it picks up where the anime left us all sort of hanging.**


	2. Chapter 2

**Warning! Lemons Ahead... all children, out of the pool!**

* * *

"Man, this place is locked up tighter than a drum," Renji said as he paused from his ministrations on her lips to set her down and let her unlock the door.

There were several locks on the door, and all of the windows had discrete louvred bars on them with dark, heavy curtains drawn over them from the inside. There was no way of seeing what was on the inside from the street that was for sure.

"I like to enjoy what little privacy I can get, any way I can get it," she explained a little breathlessly. Breahtless both from the ride and from the fact that he was suckling on the back of her neck and nibbling lightly where her jawline met her throat and it felt sooo good.

They at last got throught he door and slammed it behind them, Nanao only managed to relock one of the locks before her new lover scooped her up again and made for the bedroom.

"But I haven't had time to prepare," she protested a little weakly, mostly overcome by the feelings he was pulling up from deep inside of her with the way he was touching her.

"This place is neat as a pin," Renji replied huskily. "I doubt yer room is nothing you couldn't show off to guests."

Renji would have bet that Nanao Ise's room looked like something that could have been showcased in a magazine. And he was right... because all of the military housing had the same basic layout squad to squad, he was able to navigate his way to her bedroom without a problem and the room that awaited him with an ample queen-sized bed was decorated as neatly and well as it would have been for a showcase-room. The furniture and bedframe was all french parisian, with ornate curls and wrought iron and curves and white-washed wood. The accent colors of the coverlet, pillows, framed pictures and dressing table flowers were all chocolate and teal.

"I'm all out of candles," she said softly in protest.

"Aww, honey, you don' need ta do nuthin' fancy fer me," he said with a smile that was almost feral. "An' by the time I'm done with you, candles'll be the last thing on yer mind."

Renji bent down to restart their kiss and she stopped him, looking actually nervous.

"I haven't done this in a... I mean, I was never really all that practiced to begin with," she stammered a little.

The tall red-head smiled as he sat her up on the bed.

"Just relax," he murmured low into her ear. "An' lemme make this good fer you."

Ise shivered at his husky growl hot in her ear and made another noise of surprised delight at the feel of his lips, soft and slightly rough, on the tender skin of her jaw and neck working thier way downward in a trail of delight. She tried to do as he asked and relax into the unfamiliar sensations, but the moment one of his hands slipped around to the back of her dress while he was busy nibbling his way down her neck, instinct and decades worth of training snapped into control and her hand moved on its own to clip him a solid one upside his head.

"Ow!" he yelped in real pain, rubbing his injury and glaring at her in confusion.

"I'm sorry!" she yelped, instantly contrite and chagrined. "I'm sorry, I'm sorry! I didn't mean to hit you it's just... instinct now."

"That's why ya gotta relax yerself," Renji soothed, working his warm, large hands over her shoulders, circling his thumbs sensually into the hollows of her flesh.

"I'll try harder," she said trying again to make herself relax.

Renji leaned in over her and started kissing again, one hand braced beside her on the bed and the other sliding down her arm and over her to her hip. He reached her waistline and started to caress his way up to her breast when long trained reflexes sprang up again and Renji just barely managed to move in time to avoid taking the full brunt of Nanao's instinctive uppercut.

At that point Nanao was bright red with humiliation at herself and her lack of self control. She started to apologize again but Renji seemed to find it amusing. He chuckled warmly and said

"Ya almost got me with that one. Good reflexes."

He leaned back to study her consideringly for a long moment and Nanao was very much afraid that he'd decide to pack it in and call it a night, then write the whole mad plan off as a silly waste of time, but he seemed to take it in stride.

"I'm sorry," she apologized again. "I didn't mean to swing at you, but I just can't seem to-"

She blushed, embarrassed at herself.

"Its hard ta fight yer training, I get that. So hows about we do a little sumthin' ta help you relax a bit first?"

Having no idea what he might possibly have in mind, but willing to try, Ise nodded her head.

Renji smiled reassuringly at her and promptly stripped himself of his formal belt and baldric, following it with his formal overjacket with all of his ribbons and medals on it. His crisp white undershirt he left on and unbuttoned, and somehow it just made him look all the more sexy. Renji loosened the belt on his pants but didn't take them off as he sat on the bed next to Nanao. Instead of staying there, Renji scooted over until his head was resting against the head board and tugged lightly on her hand, motioning her over. Aware that it had been more than a while since Nanao had seen a man even partly naked (she didn't count all of the "accidental" little _exhibitionist moments_ she was always getting tricked into seeing by her Captain) she had to fight hard to contain a blush at the sight of all that bare man-flesh placed before her.

Part of her had to congratulate herself on her choice. She'd heard tales around the squads of Renji's squad-eleven twelve-pack but it rather paled in comparison with the actual thing. His torso was fit to be immortalized in stone. Flat, toned, chiseled, _all_ of that. And those sexy tattoos of his was like icing on a cake. Even looking at him was enough to make her body squirm in anticipation.

"N-Now what?" she asked, feeling a little short of breath.

Renji pulled her over to him, and slipped her shoes off then lifted her up, dress and all to settle her straddled across his lap. He smiled lazily at her from his reclining position and reached around to unzip her dress from the back. Heat climbed even higher into her cheeks.

"Renji, i-" nanao started to protest a while.

"Shh, it's okay," he soothed.

When he slipped the thin straps holding her dress on off her shoulders Nanao was barely able to catch herself in time as she reacted to the feel of cold air on her skin with another swing at the nearest offending object.

"It's been so long, I don't know how to relax," Nanao murmured.

Renji's heart sort of went out to her. No _wonder_ everyone called her uptight! He'd have been uptight too if he'd spent the last fifty or so years never being able to lower his guard. Renji and Captain Kuchiki might have their differences as men, but at least he knew he could trust his captain to behave himself. (on the contrary, renji had always secretly thought that Kuchiki might well benefit from a good roll in the hay with a woman!)

"It's alright, I'm gonna help you," he murmured soothingly back at her.

Renji removed her undergarment and pulled her supine against his chest, the warmth of his flesh sinking into her in a very pleasant way. His masculine scent was both soothing and erotic and the feel of his muscular torso pressed firmly against hers was more than simply pleasant.

"Not that this isn't nice," Nanao said after a moment or two of simple closeness. "But how is this going to help?"

"Yer all tense," Renji replied, placing both of his strong hands on her lower back and pressing in with his fingertips in sure, circular strokes, massaging the tense and tightened muscles there. "This is the best thing fer helpin' you relax. Just lay yer head down so I kin get yer back proper."

Renji worked his hands up and down her back, ferreting out all of her tense spots, loosening every knot that had built up and easing muscles she hadn't even known were tight until the pressure was suddenly gone. It was like heaven! She moaned with both relief and delight as his strong, able hands moulded her flesh in wonderful ways. Every now and again his fingers and thumb tips would work thier way around or lower to a more erogenous zone but the knee-jerk reflex that Nanao had built up over the years vanished in the over-all feeling of well being at his treatment. It seemed that she owed those nurses in Fourth a big thank you for teaching her new lover something more than just a good time. By the time he was done with the massage she was limp against him and relaxed in a way she hadn't felt in a long time.

He looked down into her face and laughed a little.

"Glad yer so relaxed but don't fall asleep on me yet baby, the fun's just started."

He could have stopped right there and she would have called herself satisfied. Instead he rolled them over so that Nanao was on her back and he was cradled, still half dressed, between her bent knees. Nanao throat went dry suddenly when he slipped his white formal shirt off his shoulders, exposing the knotwork of tattoos on his broad shoulders and corded muscular upper arms. He looked predatory as leaned over her and kissed her, causing a flutter of nerves to kick across her belly again. She wasn't quite sure what to do with her hands but found that she quite liked the way he responded to her, with deeper more passionate kisses, when she worked them over his hard, muscular chest. One of his hands braced his weight above her while his other one began to press and play with one of her breasts. Having spent so long keeping her sensitive ladies from being touched, it took Nanao a moment or two to adjust her thinking and her body's reactions to it being allowable to feel hands there that were not her own. When Renji's mouth moved sideways down her neck and over her collarbone and finally latched onto the free nipple with teeth and tongue, Nanao's body lost its inhibitions and a delighted moan rose from her throat as wonderful sensations rippled awake inside her.

"There we go, that's it," he encouraged her and Nanao began to let herself go and enjoy the touch of his hands on her skin.

He sucked harder on one breast, biting down lightly on her nipple and Nanao was more than a bit surprised at the sudden surge of delighted pleasure she felt at the treatment. His other hand squeezed hard, pinching lightly, and she felt another gasping moan escape her as her body responded favorably. Nanao decided that it was probably better not to question herself and just let herself go to enjoy the sensations finally awakening within her.

"More," she moaned greedily.

"So glad you asked," Renji replied, sounding both amused and husky as he shifted his weight back slightly and pulled his mouth away from her breast.

His hands smoothed down her stomach causing aching ripples of passion as they pressed and pawed thier way down to her hips where they worked around and squeezed tightly the firm, soft flesh of her buttocks, causing her hips to rise and her knees to fall farther apart, exposing all of her to him. Renji moved slightly and his mouth began working its way down her thigh, causing the flutters of delight to ache while her core tensed and heated with need rousing in her. Nanao grabbed the waist of his pants and tugged downward, exposing his fundoshi, which she also impatiently removed.

Her eyes widened. She swallowed a bit nervously when she looked down the length of her body at the sight that awaited her curious gaze. it had been a while, she'd quite forgotten about... _that_.

Wow.

While she was off guard, Renji slipped a finger into her folds and curled upwards, grabbing the nub of newly awakened feelings and pressing it firmly. A gasp of surprised pleasure escaped as her whole body jolted for a long moment at the unexpected pleasure. It was followed quickly after by an extended enthusiastic torture that sent lightning pulses of pleasure all over her body while Renji expertly manipulated pressure and position to draw out moans of pleasure from her. Just when she thought that she surely die of wanting the sweet torment to end, she felt his teeth bite down on the lightning seed hidden within the folds of her flesh and she came undone in a long, glorious explosion that sent her falling out of herself into a delirious bliss. Renji looked down at her with a very primal, male satisfaction as he said

"You look good, nice an' relaxed now. How 'bout we get to the good stuff?"

Her body was still throbbing from what he'd just done to her, and her was telling her there was more? His hands didn't wait for her head to nod limply, his fingers slipped inside of her milking a few more light ripples of sensation on the tail end of her last orgasm from her, but already she could feel her core beginning to spark and jump again as he pressed against her insides, stretching her.

"Yer a little tight, but I think you'll be fine," he murmured into her ear as he repositioned himself over her.

Nanao tried not to let her mind think about her momentary nervousness over whether he would actually fit as he felt the tip of him nudge and slide at her entrance. She clenched around him as his shaft invaded her slowly, stretching her walls as he pushed deeper inside of her. It had been so long she'd forgotten the sensation of flesh on flesh in that intimate place. She wrapped her arms around his shoulders to grip onto as her hips rolled of their own accord, taking more of him in to bring that sweet pressure closer to her core. The hard, ridged muscle caressed her inside as his taut, washboard abs pressed against the soft yielding flesh of her stomach.

The pleasure which had ebbed only a short while ago returned threefold when he sheathed himself inside of her and then redoubled again, roaring out to every part of her when he pulled out and pushed down further into her. Her body gave way to fire and lightning that fed on itself and grew with every desperate lunge inside of her. She writhed and screamed, her head thrown back and eyes sightless as something so excruciatingly powerful rolled over her in wave after agonizing wave. Nanao could only ride it out at the maelstrom built within her, unraveling her from her core. Release exploded over her, washing away Nanao's carefully built would of rationality, control and order in a white fire of pure feeling. She didn't know how long she moaned and writhed, caught in the grip of it; she felt his hands everywhere, stroking her, his flesh pressed hard against her, sliding over her skin, his scent warm and musky. At last the beautiful chaos ebbed and her body coalesced about her once again. She was only very distantly aware of his own deep groan, as though he had died, when he thrust hard and fast, pulling one last release hard on the one she had just suffered, before his body covered hers, hard and slick with sweat.

It was a long moment before he rolled, slightly winded and looked at her for a long moment as if gauging her reaction. Nanao was utterly incapable of movement, utterly limp as a rag in reaction. Renji must have seen something on her face which amused him for he chuckled, low and masculine, like a tiger growl, and said

"You're welcome."

She didn't even have the presence of mind, let alone the extra energy, to hit him for his arrogant chauvinism. She didn't see how he could be moving after all of that, but she was grateful he could when he pulled back the covers and arranged their bodies between the sheets, laying her head on his chest and wrapping those big strong arms around her for better comfort as he yawned once, nuzzled his face in her hair, and went to sleep. Nanao joined him not too long after.

Renji woke a few hours later in a place unfamiliar to him with strange flowry scents and a bed (instead of an ordinary futon) under him that seemed to be made of cloud, along with the smoothest sheets he'd ever felt against his skin. Renji usually just simply used whatever the Reapers issued for common sleeping gear but maybe he'd have to change that soon; those sheets felt _nice_! Secondary to those impressions was the feel of a woman's soft, smooth flesh pressed up intimately against him. The events of only a few hours ago trickled back to him through the haze of his sex-induced torpor. Nanao Ise, perhaps one of the most uptight and unapproachable women in the whole Seireitei, had _propositioned_ him. Not only that but she had taken him back to her place and they had had _sex_!

_:Unbelievable_!: Renji thought, with a mental headshake in wonderment.

He'd felt bad for her. Here she was, overworked and under-appreciated, with a lecherous, jealous and possessive Captain watching her every move (when he wasn't sleeping on rooftops or getting drunk with his best drinking buddy) making sure that no-one could get close to her. The lengths Renji had had to go through to get her to lower her guard and relax enough to enjoy it spoke volumes about the sorts of defenses she'd had to put in place to gain what little independence and privacy she did have. He _liked_ Captain Kyouraku, _everyone_ did, he was a nice guy, but Renji was always of the opinion that a guy didn't keep chasing after a girl once she'd already told him no. The fact that Ise couldn't really _do_ anything about his lecherous treatment of her just made it worse. It was no wonder she'd been locked up tighter than a drum.

:_Poor thing_,: Renji thought with pity.

Her body had been tense and it had clearly been more than a while since she'd been pleasured properly. But of course it was no surprise, what with that Captain of hers always glaring over her shoulder at any guy that came within two feet of her. It seemed sort of mean for an otherwise okay guy to decide that if he couldn't have her, no-one else would.

:_Hmm, wonder what she plans ta do about that_?: Renji maundered to himself sleepily as he rolled them onto their sides together, their whole bodies pressed against each other. He smiled to himself when began to caress and kneed her flesh in pleasant and intimate ways. He wasn't really a one-and-done kind of a guy.

:_After all, I don't think her intent is to keep this from her captain, seeing as she's trying to draw up some boundaries for her personal life_.:

But it also didn't seem like she planned to go announcing the relationship to the whole Seireitei, and truth be told he would more prefer things low-key anyway. It wasn't that he didn't like the Eighth Squad Lieutenant, it was just that... he already loved another and he didn't want rumors flying around and maybe hurting his eventual chances.

Renji kissed his way down the nape of her neck while one of his hands massaged her breasts and the other caressed southward along her stomach to stroke at her inner folds, reawakening her body with slow pleasure. She was only half awake and moaning, the sound of which made Renji harden in interest.

"Renji wha-?" she asked in sleepy confusion.

"Shhh," he breathed into her ear, nibbling on her earlobe in the process.

Not every woman enjoyed this position but they'd try it and see, they could always switch positions if she didn't care for it. He kept working her body into a state of arousal, then he threw one leg over her and slipped inside of her holding her tight against him and rocking her body along with his. She folded tight around him, squeezing with her inner muscles and pushing back when he thrust up into her. It took less time than he'd thought it would before she was in the grip of her body's long-denied need again, which was good because Renji didn't have as much time before his own desire spent itself. It had been a little while for him too; not nearly as long as Ise, but longer than usual because so much else had been going on, what with his promotion and the execution and the war and all. It had been a little while since he'd found a bed mate to delight and take pleasure in.

She looked gorgeous with her cheeks flushed and her usually impeccably neat hair in disarray and every inch of that pert body of hers glowing with exertion and passion. She had one last moan when he pulled out from within her and then she was nicely limp and sated in his arms again.

It was good having a lover again, even if nothing would come of it. Renji liked to feel physical intimacy even if his emotional needs went unsatisfied. There was something to be said about the simple comfort that came from sharing an extended moment of pleasure with someone you liked and trusted, and in times like these there was the feeling that those moments might possibly be the last ones that one might get before being sent on to the next life in a battle.

:_Speaking of battles, I wonder when I'll get to fight her Captain_,: Renji mused to himself.

That was half the reason he was doing this in the first place. His answer to Nanao hadn't been prevarication, he really was interested in seeing what one of the oldest Captains in the Seireitei could teach him when they went at it in a battle. He liked Nanao, but he didn't love her, not the way he loved Rukia. He wanted to fight Captain Kuchiki to deserve her, for his right to stay at the side of the woman he loved. Fighting Nanao's captain was more like "I'm bored, you're a control freak, I don't like the way you think you can do whatever you want with her, and I'd like to see what kind a fight you can put up when you're really pissed off."

:_Yeah, I should probably have my head examined_.:

Renji smiled to himself, as he caressed a hand down Nanao's side, enjoying the feel of her flesh beneath his palms. Kyouraku sure as hell wasn't going to be happy when he found out about this.

His smile widened.

:_Which sort of makes the whole thing kinda fun_!: he decided.

Kyouraku was free to be as jealous as he wanted to be, but military rules stated that the personal lives of Reapers remained outside of professional reveiw as long as their behavior did not negatively affect their work. Nanao might be a little sleepier come morning, but he doubted that that was going to make even a tiny dent in her professionalism. Once her Captain knew that his precious Nanao was voluntarily sleeping with someone who wasn't him... things were going to get interesting.

"We're both crazy, you know that right?" Renji murmured to her, voice heavy with sleep and sex.

"Mm-hmm," she murmured sleepily back at him. "My Captain's going to kill you."

"Was it worth it, sending an innocent man to Executioners Hill?" he grinned a little cockily at her.

"Yes," she said with an extremely satisfied smile.

His inner Man puffed out his chest and strutted around at that helplessly sated look on her face.

"Good, because I'm not done with you yet," Renji said, rolling them over until she was stretched out over him again then grabbing her hips and spreading her legs with his.

After all, it had been a little while for him too.

:_We'll just worry about the morning when it comes_,: he decided, and turned his focus to whiling away the rest of the night.

* * *

**I blush. I still can't believe that i wrote this, I'm so embarrased. Well, anyway, i hope you all liked it. Please tell me what you thought of it, even if you thought it was terrible.**

**On another note, shameless plug, I'm going to be posting an adventure story for the fandom Legend of Twelve Kingdoms which doesn't got much traffic and could use a little love. So if anyone has seen the anime and wants a (IMHO) pretty good read please take a look at The Path of Sorrows, The Dragon Throne.**


	3. Chapter 3

It surprised her for a moment to find the shower wet when she got into it in the morning but then she dimly remembered Renji telling her he would be using it before he went off for his morning training regimen slightly before dawn (and just after another one of his delightful romps between the sheets). Other than that, there seemed to be nothing to show that her little fantasy last night had been a reality, well unless one included the few sore twinges in certain places along her body and-

"Oh. My. God," Nanao said with both surprise and dismay as she caught sight of the huge bruise-like love bite on the side of her neck. No way was her uniform hiding that one. She'd have to see if concealer worked. She looked down at herself while she soaped up.

:_Damn you Renji, you left these things all over me_!: she thought, though her annoyance really didn't have and heat to it since those marks reminded her of some of the amazing things he had done with her the night previous.

She'd woken more than once to her body being worked and stroked to a heightened state of arousal, which was quickly followed by sessions of pleasure that left her screaming and crying out for more. Somewhere halfway through the night she'd lost the last of her inhibitions and all of her prudery in the discovery that playing rough felt incredible. She blushed at herself, even as her body heated and moistened in reaction to the memories.

There was a smile on her face and a little spring in her step as she left her quarters and walked towards eighth squad hall. As usual on her way to work she ran into her friend the Lieutenant from Tenth squadron. Anyone who had been asked would have said that Rangiku Matsumoto and Nanao Ise were an odd pair of personalities to be friends, Rangiku was best known for being laid-back easy-going (and usually drunk most of the time) where as Nanao was as uptight as they came, but it was perhaps because of these opposite traits that thier friendship worked.

"Nanao, is that a _smile_ on your face I see?" Rangiku said, only half teasing.

Truth to tell, she couldn't easily recall the last time she'd seen a real smile on the face of her uptight friend. Rangiku knew how much Ise's Captain sometimes stressed her out, and she was naturally uptight anyway... but she thought the main reason was that her friend just need to get lai-

:_Wait a second_...: Rangiku thought, pausing to take her in for a long moment, a hopeful suspicion dawning. Her hair and appearance were as immaculate as ever, not a hair out of place, her robes neatly ties and her massive book cradled in her arms as usual but it seemed to Rangiku that there was a slightly flushed and glowing quality to her skin, and extra sparkle to her eye... and was that make-up on her collar? It was! It was make-up and it was concealing a rather large hickey to judge by the surface area of the smear.

"You _didn_'t!" Rangiku said, absolutely delighted for her friend as she twigged on immediately to the subtle signs of a night well spent. She hugged her uptight comrade with exuberance, delighted for her that the poor girl's long period of self-imposed celibacy was at last over with.

"I think this calls for a celebratory drink!" Rangiku jubulated.

"You just woke up," Nanao replied tartly to her friends antics.

Nanao knew she could count on Renji to keep thier new relationship discrete, Rangiku... not so much.

"So..." rangiku said with a wide smile. "Who is the poor unfortunate, lucky man?"

"Isn't that an oxymoron?" nanao dodged.

"Not when both terms apply," Rangiku said easily. "So spill, whose neck did you charm onto the executioners block?"

"What makes you think that there's anything going on?"ise prevaricated. "I'm just feeling... cheerful this morning."

Rangiku looked back at her, non-plussed and not fooled for an instant.

"Oh please, you might think you can fool anyone else with that line but i know this..." Rangiku gestured obviously to all of her. "This _thisness_. You've been well taken care of, I can tell."

"How?" Ise demanded, mystified.

"You're ah, glowing," Rangiku replied promptly. "By the look of you it must have been good, and since there hasn't been the sight of your dear captain singing out from the rooftops, it obviously wasn't him."

Ise's wry smile confirmed her fellow lieutenants deduction skill.

"I have to admit that I'm stumped though," Matsumoto continued. "We both know your Captain hasn't let any other man within twenty paces of you and I don't think I know anyone crazy enough to risk his anger by dallying with his 'precious Nanao-chan!' So I have no idea who could be responsible for breaking your celibacy streak."

"And I intend to keep it that way," Nanao said mercilessly.

Rangiku pouted a little bit but perked up with the internal thought that ferreting out the information was that much more fun and eminently suited to her skill set.

The two ladies separated to head to thier respective Squad Halls. Ise paused outside the door to mentally prepare herself. Straight face, check.

"Nanao-chaaaan!" the familiar greeting of her Captain trying to fling himself at her.

She blocked him by reflex with the spine of her book.

"You're so cold to meee," he whined, just as he always did but Nanao was already brushing past him, heading to her desk to start in on the morning's paperwork.

It didn't take her captain long after she had settled herself in at her desk to start the double-course-load of work she had to take care of every morning to start in. First he whined that he was hungry, so she (as always) sent one of her lower-seated officers out to deliver breakfast. The Get Nanao's Attention plan for that morning seemed to be a sudden desire to change the color and pattern of his Haori for the season, and nothing would satisfy her Captain but that Nanao should be dragged away from her paperwork and her desk to accompany her indecisive Captain on a round of the Seireitei's finest ateliers to help him pick out material and patterns for a new haori. It didn't surprise her very much at all when he kept hinting effusively that Nanao-chan herself could pick out some of the silk for a new kimono and her Captain would happily pay for the purchase. One of two of the shop-owners mistakenly tried to curry favor with her at first but backed off quickly when faced with the business end of Nanao Ise's Glare of Doom.

:_Just once_!: Nanao Ise thought tiredly as she at last found a few moments to eat in peace during the afternoon when he Captain had settled in for his afternoon nap (having not been successful in enticing her out to eat with him). :_Just once I would like to be able to go somewhere with a man and not feel utterly exhausted by the end of it_!:

Her sole experience with stepping out (not counting the Girls Nights Out with the Soul Reaper Womens Association) with another man had always consisted of these irritating little errands and goose chases accompanying her captain as he purchased new blankets and bed sheets (with accompanying innuendo) or flowers (also with accompanying offers) or even jewelry (with yet more offers!). She got that he was trying to sort of court her, but most of the time by the end of these trips Nanao just wanted to go home and curl up with a book and not have to see anyone or look at anyone for several hours.

"Sixth Squadron officially requests its share of damage reports from Eighth Squadron," a now-very-familiar voice to her said in formulaic request.

Nanao looked up in some startlement. His everyday voice sounded so different from the one he had used with her last night, it was louder, more boisterous.

Renji Abarai stood framed in all of his tall, broad, muscular glory in the doorway to her tiny office-annex and Nanao had to suppress a small flush at the memory of what he had looked like stretched out on her bed. He was fully dressed in his uniform, hair pulled back, and carrying a small stack of reports to exchange with her own Division.

"Eight Squadron is happy to comply with Sixth Squadron's request," Lt. Ise replied in the accepted manner. "It's the stack on the upper right hand corner, fourth sheaf down."

She had the damage and Reaping reports filled out and filed cross-wise by division. One set of reports going one direction the other stacked cross-wise to it. Renji deposited his own sheaf of papers, already filled out in his own strong, spidery script with his captain's elegant signature and seal signed on the bottom of each form.

:_Lucky_,: nanao thought with (not for the first time) a strong sense of Captain-envy.

She always had to forge her own Captain's signature as well as write out the reports.

Nanao blinked in surprise as she actually looked down at the top page of the report that Renji had handed to her and noticed that it wasn't the top-page of a report, but instead was a small note.

**_Dinner at my place tonight_**? It read. Nanao flushed as she looked up in surprise to meet Renji's warm brown eyes. he put a finger athwart his lips to signify a "secret" and winked at her. She allowed herself a small smile over at him to show that she understood his way of being discrete and quickly penned a short reply... she'd be there at eight. They shared a conspirational smile and Renji, his offical (and unnofficial) business taken care of, showed himself out.

:_Now **that's** the way to conduct a relationship_,: nanao thought in relieved approval.

Renji, unlike her captain, didn't feel the need to strut around, making a big production out of everything. He was low-key and discrete, he kept his private affairs private instead of inviting everyone and their grandmother to comment on the relationship and dragging every little thing out for public scrutiny in the most unprofessional manner. he considered how Nanao felt about things, he understood that she didn't want everyone gossiping about them. It was such a relief! Nanao tried to act natural and pretend that she wasn't hurrying through her paperwork, she didn't want her Captain to notice any unusual behavior on her part... she knew that if he did, he'd feel the need to investigate it. nanao wasn't ready for him to find out about her straying attention just yet, she wasn'ted to keep her new status just to herself for a little while yet.

:_I only hope Rangiku can manage to keep a lid on her curiosity and her mouth for a little bit_,: nanao though tot herself. :_The last thing I want right then is for that Captain of mine to find out this early on._:

Her day ended, thankfully without her Captain finding any last minute errands for him that he absolutely needed her to do right then. It was a delaying tactic he had made use of frequently over the years to keep her in the offices with him just a little while longer. Nanao hurried to her home and showered then set about getting ready for dinner that night. Arrangements that included the all-important choosing of what to wear.

Nanao was a professional sort of woman and it had been a very long time indeed since she'd had a man to dress for so it was understandable that she would be in short supply of garments that looked "nice". Nice as in "I'm making an effort on your behalf but I don;t want to come right out and say that this obi is purposely tied to come unknotted easily". She wanted something pretty, flattering, elegant; not too prim but not scandalous either. Nanao thought for a panicked moment that she might actually have to go out and possibly try to buy something suitable because the only things in her closet were all upright, proper clothes that she wore to squadron picnics and flower-veiwng parties. Those clothes had been specifically selected to downplay her femininity because she hadn't wanted her Captain getting too excited about seeing her out of uniform and showing a little more skin than he got to see on a daily basis. But at last there was a moment of relief when she found a lovely little informal yukata that her friend Rangiku had gotten for her birthday earlier in hopes of getting her out there to catch a man.

:_Cleavage_!: Nanao thought in private delight as she finished putting on her clothes for the evening. :_I can't remember the last time I got to show cleavage_!:

The exposing of any area or interest around her Captain was strictly forbidden in the interests of her sanity! As a result, Nanao never got to wear clothes out in public that made her feel sexy. She posed and primped in front of the mirror for a little while, trying to keep her excitement to herself. She put on her make-up (also an activity she saw very little of, since she really didn't have anyone she wanted to look special for) and styled up her hair. Once she was readied to her satisfaction, Nanao quickly flash-stepped from her front porch over to the Lieutenant's quarters of Sixth Squadron, hopefully without anyone the wiser to the unusual traffic between sixth and eighth that night.

"C'mon in!" she heard Renji call as she raised her hand to knock at his door.

"Forgive the intrusion," Nanao said politely as she opened the door and stepped inside.

Unlike her own place, the quarters of Renji Abarai were a lot more open both inside and out. He had his windows open to catch the light breeze of early summer and upon enetering and looking around her the Eighth squad lieutenant smiled a little in not-surpise. Renji hadn't really struck her as the sort of man who went about collecting things, and his quarters were certainly spartan. In fact, it seemed that the only furniture his place had was the few furnishings that had already come with it. It was, in short the kind of place what her mother would have said "needs a woman's touch."

Nanao Ise was very much surprised to smell (and hear) what seemed to be actual cooking going on. Sure enough, when she peeked around the corner and into the small kitchen that came with the average Lieutenant Quarters, Renji was adeptly flipping a pan full of delicious-smelling yakisoba noodles in the air with what looked like practiced ease. His counter-tops were spread with cutting boards that had various sized piles of chopped meats and vegetables on them and there were two long tubes of sliced, seaweed-wrapped rice and other vegetables already put on a rectangular serving plate with bean-sprout garnish around them. Renji had made sushi.

"Yer a little early," Renji noted flashing a smile full of casual cheer her way.

"I am on time exactly," Ise replied with mystification.

"That's my point," Renji said wryly. "Usually when a woman says she'll be here at eight, what she really means is she'll be here around eight-thirty."

"You can cook...?" Nanao said unable to hide how surprised she was by the revelation.

He _totally_ didn't seem the type. Renji Abarai was best known for his ability to pound an enemy flat, his wild nights out drinking and carousing with his two best friends Lt's Hisagi and Izuru, and his incessant training to become stronger... not necessarily in that exact order. Cooking didn't really fit the mold Renji seemed cast in.

"I like to eat," he replied with a shrug that did wonders for his muscular torso. "And every guy should have a hobby."

"I thought fighting was your hobby," Nanao replied promptly.

"Well yeah. But I can't do that twenty-four seven. There's a difference between relaxed and exhausted. Keep too exhausted with constant fighting and your edge gets duller over time, not sharper."

Nanao blinked in some surprise. It sounded like actual good, sensible advice from a man that she and most others of her set had assessed as having the mental capacities of an attack-dog; not bright, but well-trained, and if you pointed him in the right direction and told him what to do, you could trust that the job would get done one way or another.

"Just another minit an' I'll finish up on the sauce," he said over his shoulder as he deftly doled out two plates with yakisoba noodles on them. "Have a seat."

Nanao showed herself to the adjoining room with a low table and cushions already set up with a plain, non-color table cloth and equally plain dishes. She hesitated to say cheap, but... well, they _were_. She was joined a moment or two later by her host bearing dishes with food arrayed neatly on them.

"I wasn't sure what you liked, but there's nothing spicy here," Renji said. "I have a sensitive tongue."

She wondered for a brief moment if that had been a double-entendre but he didn't act like he'd meant anything by it. Nanao was a little bit surprised by the arrangement. She'd propositioned him with the intent of sharing his bed, and with the full knowledge that his heart belonged to another, it left her a little bit confused as to why she was being treated like she was actually his girlfriend.

"I'm afraid I don't understand," Nanao said a little hesitantly as he set a little of the sushi roll he had prepared on her plate.

"Aren't you hungry?" he asked her. "I understand if you don't like sushi, but the soba nodles-"

"It's not about the menu," Nanao replied. "Why are you feeding me at all? Aren't we...?"

She had heard that the polite term was "friends with benefits."

Renji smiled a little and replied

"As to that. Yeah... I mean, I got no problem helpin' you out. I don't mind that, but at the same time I don't feel right just fuckin' neither. It don't have ta be a full fledged relationship or nuthin' but I'm alone enough as it is an' I get the feelin' so are you. Just sleeping together would be too lonely. So while we're together we should... spend time together so that neither of us hasta be alone anymore. When it's over this'll be a nice memory."

Renji Abarai was lonely? That took Nanao Ise a moment to adjust her world view. Every time she saw him Renji was always surrounded by friends, laughing and getting rowdy. He, Izuru and Hisagi were a trio who was well known for their crazy drunken exploits, joking around and cutting up. Or if he wasn't hanging out with his two best guy-friends, he was down at his old stomping grounds in Eleventh fighting his former sempai, Ikkaku Madarame. She didn't know for certain that Momo and Renji hung out separately, but she knew that Hinamori, Izuru and Abarai had been fast friends since the academy. It was surprising that with all of the friends she knew he had, and the fact that he had someone he loved, that Abarai would be lonely.

:_But I guess it's **because** of that_," ise thought with a small pang of pity for him.

For all of his many friends, the one he loved was still out of his reach. That had to leave a place feeling forever empty, a man who couldn't have requited love would have to find someway of taking out the sting or go crazy. She wondered if it would be considered taking advantage of him if she enjoyed more of him than just the physical.

"Well then, here's to nice memories," nanao saluted him with her glass of plum wine.

Dinner was surprisingly tasty, and the company was also surprisingly good. Her host didn't talk about work or make rude and leering comments at her, which for Lt Ise was a vast improvement over any of her most recent evenings out for dinner (all of which her Captain had dragged her to on one pretext or another). Renji wasn't a sparkling wit but he did have an easy sort of charm that held its own appeal, that, and he believed that conversation should be a two-way affair and frequently asked her opinion on whatever subject they found to discuss.

"What's for desert?" she asked as she finished off the last of the meal.

Renji smiled widely at her, a certain glint in his eye that needed no real translation.

"Oh," she said, immediately comprehending.

* * *

Shout-outs to those who reveiwed my first chapter and double to those who stuck with me to my second, I hope I didn't scare anyone off. I hope you all liked this one as well and I'll see you all again in chapter three!


	4. Chapter 4

Renji rose from his seat at the table across from her and pulled her to her feet, leading her away from where they had recently eaten and down the halls to his own sleeping chamber.

"I've been wanting to do this since you first showed up in this nice little yukata, Ise," he murmured as he pulled one fold in the neckline off to one side and placed his soft, rough lips to her collarbone, which, now that she thought about it, did sort of play peekaboo with the neckline of her yukata.

She placed her hands on his broad shoulders to steady herself as he knees went a little weak from the way his hands massaged her breasts through the smooth folds of her clothes. She didn't bother holding back a moan of delight when she felt his thumb press firmly against a nipple. They hadn't even reached his bedchamer yet and she was already flushed with excitement. Jolts of awareness skittered across her skin and heated her blood.

He walked them slowly back into his room, lips never once leaving contact with the smooth skin of her neck and shoulder. Feeling a little more bold this time, Ise tugged his kosode so that the folds holding it closed loosened enough for her to push the garment off his shoulders , exposing his well-sculpted and tatooed chest. Her hands played along the warm skin of his stomach, learning the feel of each hard, ribbed abdomen muscle. Her body reacted to the feel of his flesh under her hands, and so did his if the sudden increase in the intensity of the suckling at her neck was any indication. She shivered and her body pressed against hers at the feel of his teeth scraping lightly over the back of her neck. She in turn pressed her lips against his pectoral muscle, tasting the salt of his skin and inhaling his slightly musky scent. She didn't really know much about loveplay, but she knew she really enjoyed it when he did this to her so, Ise sucked on the dusky nipple. Renji made a small noise of surprise and before he could do anything more than that, she literally pounced on him. Ise gave a small hop and wrapped her legs around his waist, the fabric of her yukata bunching and pulling to accomodate her new pisition. Renji's arms easily supported her weight as he stumbled slightly into his bedroom, nibbling his way down her chest the whole while.

She didn't really spend any time looking around at his private chambers, partly because there really wasn't anything to look at. Like the rest of his home, Renji's personal quarters were spare. He had tatami on the floor, a single chest for his garments, a rack to hold Zabimaru and his futon. His futon was clearly standard issue (unlike the sleeping furniture in her own apartments which was all custom made and bought) she noted even as he sat back on it with her straddling his waist. He pulled oneof his arms out from where they were still in his loose sleeves and deftly unpinned her hair from its twist, freeing it to fall over her shoulders. His hands moved quickly down to the small of her back where he worked loose the knot of her obi with apparently practiced ease, her yukata loosened acordingly and his right hand reached around to part her robes further, kneading the soft and neglected flesh of her breasts.

"Mmm, that feels good," she breathed when he pressed her back against his raised knees, her legs still straddling his waist, and bent down to take an exposed nipple in her mouth. His teeth scratching roughly over the hardened and sensitive nub pulled a pleasured moan from her throat. It was followed quickly by another one when he tugged her loosened robe off her shoulders and tossed it aside then worked his strong, manly hands up her bare thighs. her body was hot and wanting and the sensitive flesh at the nexus of her legs ached with unsatisfied desire. A jolt of pleasure made her gasp when Renji unexpectedly thrust his hips up, carrying her suddenly upwards, while he adriotly tugged off his hakama and fundoshi. Feeling far more daring that she had the night previous, Ise wrapped her soft office-workers hands around his hardened manhood, eliciting a graon from him. Emboldened, she squeezed harder then released quickly smiling a little at the sigh which quickly turned to a deeper moan when she pumped her hand downward and reached down with the other hand to cup his testicles.

"Woman, you keep that up an' we're gonna have a problem, real quick," he growled at her.

Ise smiled widely, liking being in control of the situaltion... it was a natural urge for her.

"Are you saying you can't take a little playtime?" she teased him, giving another little squeeze on his genitals.

"I'm sayin' yer about to be flipped over and fucked, ya keep toyin' with me," he said.

It was utterly unfair that his growl was so feirce and sexy. That animal passion of his made the idea of getting taken like a beast somehow embarrasingly appealing. She had seriously never suspected that side of her before so before he could do anything about it, Nanao assumed control of the situation by lifting her body up onto her knees and guiding him into her. He threw her head back and closed her eyes in bliss as she slowly, slowly, slowly slipped down the firm,ridged flesh, the arrowing tip of him parting her and his strong shaft filling her inside. She looked down at the man steached out on the futon before her, his body was about perfect to her taste, long, lean corded strength. Those tattoos of his, like stripes on a tiger only accentuated a muscular body that moved and flexed likea hunting cat on the prowl. She twisted and wriggled, drawing out the sensations then rolling her hips to hit that last final spot, a prolonged moan of delight vibrating low in her throat as thier hips met. She held herself there, panting and squirming a bit, using him to tickle at aprts of her insides then she flexed her body to slip herself slowly off and out of him, leaving the head of him in.

The breath exploded from her chest as Renji's fingers pressed in circles on the backs of her knees, sending and unexpected frission of tension up her spine. He gave a little tug and her legs spread even wider, straddled above him allowing him enough space to work his hands up her inner thighs in sensual circles, building up the tension. Looking down at him drinking in the way her body moved as she rejoined them made her feel powerful and sexy and beautiful in a way she hadn't in a very very long time. His rough hands kneaded thier way back around her buttocks, slipped over her hips and palmed delightlfully over the flat of her stomach, up her body, learning every curve by touch, watching her while she slid back down him, the heat between then building higher and higher.

"That's it," she heard him gasp out in a raspy moan as she let her hips drop down onto his hardened length, fast and sudden. She panted out a soft moan at the pressure that built inside of her, just on the edge of agonized extacy. She didn't want to let it go so quickly, knowing that she would have to wait again for more when she did. She forced her body to slow itself just a little, riding the ragged edge of release as his hands caressed and gripped almost painfully on her and his needy moand filled her ears.

"Mmm, just let go," he said, half demand, half plea.

He squeezed her breasts hard with his hands when she pulled up and pushed down in a fast, hard jerk, liking the feel of the sudden immediacy scraping roughly inside of her. Her eyes closed and her spine curled upward to the sky, her head thrown back as she let her body take over, her hips bucking and rolling in increasing rhythm, delighing in the power and the heady glorious pleasure that came with every hard thrust. Her body came undone particle by particle as her release spread out from her core to every part of her, drowing her in a world of sensation. Her body froze, every muscle tense in a rictus of pleasure as her release swamped her like a wave.

She gasped in panting breaths when the exstacy slid away and she remembered to breathe. Muscle by muscle, her body relaxed a bit for a half a heartbeat, then weariness descended on her body like rainfall and she slumped forward, her body hitting his wet and slick and utterly spent.

"You look glorious when you come," he informed her in (what she was coming to think of as) his bedroom voice. He managed to sound both honest and amused at the same time. She honstly couldn't say the same because she hadn't seen it, being too concentrated on her ownrelease, and losing all sense of time and place to sensation.

"Yer tits jiggle real nice," he complimented her.

"That may just be the oddest thing I've ever been complimented on, and a definite first for me," she replied tiredly, her body limp as a dishrag while she basked in the afterglow.

"It's true," he assured her.

Nanao smiled tiredly as she rested her head on his collarbone and let the rest of her splay out over his lean muscular body, enjoying the feeling of her skin pressed against his, memorizing it muscle by muscle. She closed her eyes and drifted, not even really waking when he shifted them to more comfortable positions.

Renji considered his new bedmate in a state of drowsy, satisfied langour. He really liked seeing her with her hair down and her glasses off, she looked cute and sexy, especially when it was sprawled out on his pillowcase.

:_Man, I'll bet half the men in the Seireitei could only dream of seeing a sight like this_,: he thought to himself.

Truth to tell, he felt kind of proprietary about it; this completely hidden side to Eighth Squad's most notoriously uptight Lieutenant. It was kind of that smug feeling a person got when they knew a secret that no-one else knew. She really was pretty.

:_Kinda has that "Sexy Librarian" thing going for her_,: Renji thought with a smile.

He wondered if he'd be able to convince her to tell him to check in his overdue books or she'd have to punish him.

Ise made a sleepy noise of contentment and snuggled a little closer to him. Renji responded by wrapping his arms a little tighter around her, enjoying the feeling of their bodies pressed closely together. Maybe it wasn't love, but the simple human contact of skin on skin carried its own magic, a balm to soothe a weary heart. He put on a good front most days, surrounding himself with good friends and always keeping himself busy with training to acheive his goal of one day being strong enough to put the Kuchiki in his place (which was assuredly not at Rukia's side seeing as he had been doing such a craptastic job of it so far) was enough to keep him from dwelling on his unrequited feelings most times, but still... Renji got lonely. It was sad for him to live alone, to return each night to his empty apartment and flop down on his cold lonely bed. He couldn't have love, not yet anyway, but at least he could have companionship.

Renji ran a hand slowly down the smooth flat flesh of Nanao Ise's stomach and upper thigh.

:_At least I can have this_,: he consoled himself.

Oh for certain her Captain was going to shit monkeys if, WHEN, he heard about their little fling, but considering that they were keeping things low-key in their private lives and acting like two perfectly professional individuals, he wouldn't have and real grounds to protest. Which made Renji wonder how he was supposed to be able to fight the good Captain if the good Captain wasn't officially allowed to fight him.

:_Meh, guess I'll just have to let him catch me out in a dark alley alone at night sometime,_: Renji thought with an internal shrug.

Captain Kyouraku surely wouldn't kill him after all...

:_Then again, he just might_,: Renji thought with a pang. :_I am canoodling his "precious Nanao-chan" and if he does kill me and hide the body, it's not like my own Captain and I have such a good relationship that he'll feel obliged to take revenge for me_.:

It was entirely conceivable that Kyouraku felt he'd be able to dispose of one erstwhile love-rival without and fear of reprisals.

:_Still, before I go, I hope I get to steal at least one new technique off him_,: Renji thought in anticipation.

In Eleventh Squad, fighters weren't really "trained" by average instruction. You fought a strong opponent and as you fought them you could learn thier moves and how to counter them. That was how Renji had gotten to be such a powerful fighter despite his lack of brainpower, kidou skill, and only slightly-above-average native ability. He was no prodigy with the blade, he wasn't a powerhouse, nor was he spectacularly skilled... but he was detirmined. When he met an obstacle to a goal he wanted to acheive, he threw himself at it and if he got smashed flat he kept throwing himself at it until he won over. So as a fighter he had limitations, but to him those limitations didn't matter, his will to see it through mattered and nothing else.

:_I guess people might call me crazy for going out of my way to provoke one of Seireitei's oldest (and most well liked) Captains into a fight, but how else am I supposed to learn what he knows? It's not exactly like he wastes his time instructing people, he's got naps to take and sake to drink. If I want to steal some of his techniques this is probably the fastest way to go about it_.:

Granted, Reji knew very well that it wasn't the only way, and it sure as hell wasn't the safest, (and most definitely wasn't the smartest) but it was the surest. The surest way to get Captain Kyouraku mad enough to draw his sword and deliver an ass-beating would be to mess with his beloved Lieutenant.

:_Though, who's messing with whom here is a topic that's up for debate_,: he thought to himself in wry amusement as Nanao instinctively wriggled her naked body against his.

Decades of repressed libido had given the Lieutenant of Eight Squad a sexual appetite that was a joy to encourage.

:_And it feels like she's about up for some more encouragement now_,: Renji thought with a smile as he started carressing down her body to rouse her in more ways than one. It was going to be another long and glorious night.

* * *

**Update yaay! Soory it took me so long to post this, I've been moving house with all the hassle and nonsense that entails and have just now got my internet back. I hope you all liked this.  
**


	5. Chapter 5

Nanao woke up slowly, drifting reluctantly into full consciousness, at first a little worried that she could not immediately place her surroundings. She was in an unfamiliar room with a slightly musky masculine scent permeating everything, but the new slight twinges that had joined the ones from the night before reminded her of precisely where she was. Renji Abarai's quarters in Sixth Squad. She allowed herself a long moment to let the last of the sleep-fog fade from her mind and as she did so she became aware of the sound of quick movements nearby; soft grunts of exertion, the rustle of clothes, the sound of air being rapidly displaced. Curious, Nanao crawled out of the futon that had previously been shared (but now in which she was the sole occupant) and over to the half-open door screen that separated his private sleeping quarters from the main living area.

Peeking through the wide crack in the half-open screen revealed her previous bed-companion stripped to nothing but his hakama, rigorously drilling himself in one of the more difficult sword-forms. His technique was certainly up to par with what was expected of a Lieutenant, he fought much the same way her made love, with feirce agressive power. In fact, there was something decidely sexy about the way he swung a sowrd that made Nanao rather want to pounce on him and work his energy off in entirely different ways. The way the early morning sunlight glinted off the sweat beading on his muscular body make her want to straddle him and give him a cat-bath.

"Likin' watcha see, Ise?" he said, looking over at her with a smug, knowing smile, as if he could read her thoughts.

:Then again, he probably doesn't need to,: she thought in chagrin as she reigned in her flaring reiatsu.

His smile only grew wider at her blush of embarrasment for her lack of self-control.

"Do you do this every morning?" she asked instead, as a way to change the subject (though she was, in truth, qute appreciative of the veiw).

"Yep," he said cheerfully. "Sure do. How 'bout you?"

Nanao honestly couldn't remember the last time she had given herself a serious workout with her sword. Her mornings usually started by trying to play catchup on all of the paperwork her Captain had not finished the night before. She was too busy to take time out for rigorous training.

"Not so much, no," Nanao replied. "I usually have a Squad Hall to run. I don't generally have the time for extra-curricular activities."

"How can keeping your blade sharp be considered extra-curricular?" renji questioned in amazement. "Isn't that what being a Soul Reaper's all about?"

it sort of irritated her to feel that the idiot actually had a point.

"My Captain isn't like yours," she replied defensively. "I have to do his share of the paperwork and mine too. Besides, i don't really get assigned to the fighting much."

Probably another thing she could thank her captain for. She couldn't even recall the last time she'd been out to the feild to kill Hollows. that sort of thing was usually taken in turn by divisions, but it always seemed like when her turn came something "more important" came up or her Captain had a job that desperately needed doing and someone else could easily take her spot...

:I wonder if he's retarding my growth on purpose!: Nanao thought with a genuine spark of anger at this heretofore unnoticed bit of busy-bodying by her overly affectionate Captain.

"In Eleveth Squad, Captain Zaraki didn't do paperwork at all," renji replied with his usual laconic cheer. "An' we all managed to keep each other sharp jus' fine."

"I do not think that I will be turning my division into another Eleventh Squad, one in the Soul Reapers is Quite enough. There's quite enough drinking and gambling going on in 8th without adding Elevenths famous brawling into the mix."

That, and the sheer chaos and unmanageabilitly would drive her crazy!

"What I'm gettin' at," Renji said with belabored patience. "Is that even if Captain an' Vice-Captain don't do paperwork, it still gets done. it all get's shuffled down to the Seated Officers."

He cracked a smile.

"Part of the reason there's always so much intense brawling in Eleventh is that when it comes time ta do th' work... loser gets it!"

Nanao couldn't contain a laugh of amusement at that.

"Well, I suppose if there were ever anything that could motivate a person to give thier all in combat, it would be the threat of having to fill out and file all of Eleventh Squads notorious damage report and requisitions forms," she said.

"Too right!" Renji agreed with her fervently. By his exaggerated eye-roll Nanao could only assume that he had been on the receiving end of paperwork-loserdom.

"Well, it's certainly something to consider after all," Nanao said thoughtfully.

Renji finished up the last of his sword form while nanao watched appreciatively.

"I'd invite you for and early morning spar with me," he said, "But I gotta shower up and head in, Captain has some extra duties for me today."

"Oh that's alright, I understand," nanao said, trying not to feel to disappointed. Watching him work that body of his had made her feel a little eagre to feel it against her one more time before she went in to work.

"Where're you going," he demanded a little archly when he saw her retreat back to the room she'd shared with him the night before to go don her rumpled Yukata so she could go back to her quarters to shower and change.

Nanao looked back over at him cluelessly as he stood there, framed tall in the doorway.

"Home?" she said. Renji smiled that sharp, slightly scarey smile she was really beginning to like because it inevitably meant good things for her.

"I need someone to wash my back," he said, scooping her up and carrying her to the small private bathouse that came with his Officer's quarters.

It turned out that his back wasn't the only part of him to warrant a very thourough cleaning and he was only too happy to return the favor.


	6. Chapter 6

In Sixth Squad it was business as usual for Lieutenant Renji Abarai. His Captain with the closest thing that came to a human incarnation of perfection and the aristocrat expected no less of anyone serving under him (especially from his own right hand man) but since Renji sort of failed at perfection he had no other option than to make it up with lots and lots of hard work. First in the morning came warm-ups, laps and drills with the new recruits in the training yards, followed by exercising his more seasoned fighters against each other, spars which needed to be closely monitored since they involved shikaied swords. After morning training Renji usually checked in at the office for the first round of papers that his captain inevitably had waiting for him to deliver to their various destinations around the other Squad Halls. Afterward it was usually lunch, followed by getting started on his own paperwork; the duty roster, weekly secondary budget lists, weekly training roster, requisitions and supplies, reveiwing feild reports and compiling those reports into the weekly Mission Log. It was all tedious and of course he couldn't be left alone to finish it all, there was always some dire emergency to interrupt him. He'd get called out of his office for one thing or another, and meanwhile the paperwork wasn't getting any more done... his Captain complained daily of his terrible handwriting, but Renji couldn't really help it seeing as he had to write everything in a hurry to make sure it was all completed on time. His Captain disliked tardiness more than he disliked messy handwriting. Of the two evils, Renji figured he'd take the enforced extra calligraphy lessons as opposed to being fired from his job.

In a daily schedule that was that busy, not counting the time he took in dealing with actual Hollow attacks out in Rukongai, Renji wouldn't have had time for mooning about over a girl anyway so it wasn't a surprise that no-one caught him sighing on a rooftop or staring off into space with a dreamy look in his eye. In all likelihood, if anyone were to find out about the clandestine relationship of Abarai and the Eighth Squad Lieutenant, it wouldn't be from the behavior of either of them. Except for one small thing. Renji hated to see food go to waste; he couldn't help it, having grown up in a situation where every scrap of food was precious and hard-fought-over, he wasn't the sort of man who could stand to throw the precious sustenance away. As a result, he generally packed his own bento if he had leftovers instead of going to eat at the chow hall or out to a restaurant to eat.

:_I forgot to give Ise her bento_,: Renji thought to himself as he looked at the two already packed bentos he'd set away in the drawer of his desk.

He weighed his options carefully. On the one hand, since he hated seeing good food go to waste, he could just do the easy thing and eat it himself, but Renji knew that if he did that he'd only feel guilty doing so. The guilt stemmed from his childhood; Nanao was sharing his roof and his food which made her in his mind sort of one of his own, and it was an iron-clad rule that one did not take food from one's nestmates. He would no sooner have taken rice from Rukia's plate (or any one of his other friends if they had still been alive).

:_But if I go and take this bento to her then I might as well run up a flag that says the two of us have a little something going on. That's not exactly subtle, and Ise likes subtle so i don't want to make her mad at me this early on_.:

Maybe he could sneak it in. Pretend to deliver something he had forgotten and then just slip it to her quietly while no-one was looking.

:_I guess that'll work_,: he thought cheerfully.

It wasn't the same as getting to eat the lunches together but at least she'd know he was man enough to make sure she ate well. Renji rummaged up a sheaf of papers for Eighth that he'd been going to do later on and finished them early, grabbed his lunch and called out the nearby third seat that he was off to Eighth on an errand and would be back in a bit.

When he arrived at the squad hall Nanao was neck-deep in paperwork without hide nor hair of her Captain to be seen anywhere about.

:_Prob'ly off someplace nappin_': Renji tthought with a frown.

Say what one liked about his own Captain, but at least he was always around to take on his own share of the burden. Poor Ise, she didn't look like she'd had a break all day.

:Maybe it won't be as big a challenge as i thought holding an affair with Ise right under his nose, seeing as he's never around anyway. i wonder if I could convince her to share a little afternoon delight on the desk...:

Then again, some of those stacks were tall enough to fall over if he jarred them too much, and Ise was the kinda gal who'd make him pick them up an sort them out once it was all over with. Besides, the main strength of keeping her Captain out of her personal life rested on the idea of the two of them maintaining dignified professional lives; engaging in on-hours office hanky-panky would be sadly counterproductive to that.

:_Counterproductive, but fun_,: he thought regretfully.

"Good afternoon Lieutenant," Renji said pleasantly as he deposited the sheaf of papers in the place she preffered and slid the bento down right in front of her.

"I-Oh!" she said, looking surprised by the gift. "Abarai, you didn't have to go to the trouble."

"Yer slave-driver gotcha workin' through yer lunch break?" he said sympathetically. "Thought I'd save ya th' trouble o' sendin' one o' yer boys down fer food."

"Why thank-you," she said sincerely, looking surprised and gratified. "Usually Captain pesters me into going out with him about now, but I have these requisition reports to get done so..."

"Here," Renji said, picking up a stack of clearly unsorted forms and lean-seating himself on a corner of her desk. "I'll sort these out for ya. Yer sortin' by squad right?"

"You don't have to-" she protested.

"Nonsense," Renji scoffed. "Ain't fair you doin' the work o' two people."

He leaned in closer.

"And if you get done early, you an' me can meet up fer dinner again."

"Your place or mine?" she asked in a matching low tone.

Renji smiled. "Your pick."

The files were sorted quickly. Renji was a deft hand at it by then because his Captain's perfectionist, iron-clad work ethic made him able to fly through the paperwork so fast one would think he had some kind of paperwork flash-step or something. And if Renji wasn't able to keep up with him, he'd get this sort of bored, aristocratic look on his face that all but said it was so hard to find good help these days.

Ise smiled warmly at him for his assistance as she ate the bento he'd packed for her for lunch. Her Captain came slouching in just as Renji finished off the last of the forms. The Sixth Squad Lieutenant surreptitiously sized up his opponent out of the corner of one eye. Renji was sort of used to being the tallest person in the room (unless Jidanbo or one of the other Gate Guardians was in it) but Captain Kyouraku was tall enough to look him right in the eye. Even without the haori, the Eighth Squad Captain was broad enough to put up a good fight too, though the times when anyone had ever actually seen the man gather up the extra energy to step into the ring were exceedingly few. "I'm a lover not a fighter" seemed to be his motto.

Renji shrugged to himself and gave Ise a cheerful wave and wished her a nice day on his way out the door and back to his own office.

Ise tried not to seize up in a sudden panic when her Captain walked in from his afternoon nap to find Renji leaning against her desk sorting forms with her. her first panicky thought was

:_Does he suspect? Does he know? can he tell_?:

But the Captain seemed sleepily oblivious and after a polite nod slumped towards his office to sit at his desk and sleep.

To be honest, part of her felt a bit piqued. Here she was having the best sex of her life with someone else practically right under his nose and he doesn't even notice!

:_Maybe its my amazing skills as an actress_,: she thought, congratulating herself on her ability to hides something from her normally uncannily perceptive Captain.

:_Then again, he has had a lot to concentrate on for the last little while_,: she reconsidered.

That was part of the reason why she had chosen right then to make her move. With Central 46 still only half staffed with officials, and repairs still being done around the Seireitei, an increase in Hollow activity and more Captains meetings now than ever before her Captain was busier than ever before.

:_I suppose this time he's actually earned his naps._:

But luckily for her, busier than ever before meant more distracted. Her Captain was kept so preoccupied by his unaccustomed workload that she found herself with a rare opportunity to have a life of her own for a change. The closest she'd ever gotten to a personal life before this were the meetings for the Seireitei Women's Association, and what went on in them was more or less public knowledge so her Captain could keep tabs on her there too.

It was a few hours later when she deposited the last sheaf of papers on his desk and took herslf off before he could think of something he absolutely needed right away. Nanao sped off to her place and changed quickly into one of her other nice sets of casual clothing... it wasn't as date-clothes as the ones she'd worn the night before but they were the second best she had. Besides, she rather doubted Renji cared much what she wore save about how easy it was to get her out of it.

When she blurred out of flash-step at the doorway of his quarters, Renji was waiting with a small dinner of take-out from the Sixth Squad Officers Mess. He waved her in with a friendly nod, his hands occupied with a small stack of forms for his own division.

"Sorry I didn't greet you proper," he said, gesturing to the remains of his work before him. "Had a sudden hollow attack come up in one of the outer districts west of here and I was the only ranked officer available to form a team and run it, so i got a bit behind."

Ise suppressed a stab of jealousy at his casual mention of getting to run field missions against live Hollows. She honestly couldn't remember the last time she'd been in the field without her Captain hanging over her shoulder babysitting her and stepping between her and danger at the least little sign of threat.

"It's not a problem at all," she assured him.

While he continued to work on the last of his paperwork, she found dishes in his kitchen and arranged food for the both of them. She felt surprisingly domestic for what was basically a fling, but it had been a while since she'd had anything that even remotely resembled privacy.

"Hey Ise," Renji said as he slid the last form into the stack and tied it with colored string. His tone sounded a bit tentative.

"Yes?" she asked as they both sat at the table to share the meal. It was a simple repast, but Renji struck her as the sort to preffer simple, hearty foods.

"I was thinking about what you said earlier this morning, about you never getting to practice with your zanpaktou because your Captain's overprotective and keeps you hard at work. If you'd like, I'm always up for a few rounds. There's a small private training court in the back courtyard of these Lieutenant's quarters."

"You turned your back courtyard into a training court?" she said archly. "Why am I not surprised?"

Most back courtyards of the Lieutenant's quarters were made into private gardens for meditation or entertaining guests in private on a balmy summers night. Ise's own private courtyard was a small garden with nooks for her to read comfortably in her rare free hours.

"it's easier than jogging halfway across the squad hall for a training session in the morning then jogging back to my place to use the shower," he replied with a shrug. "Beside's if i want to work on a new move but don't want anyone watching me and my Captain's told me to stick around and babysit the fort I have a private place to work without being disturbed."

She got what he was getting at. Renji knew how little privacy Nanao got in her own squad hall, and he also knew that she wanted thier little affair to remain private for a little bit before they both had to confront her (likely to be very angry) Captain about it. He was offering her a place to polish her skills, and someone who would fight her seriously so that she could get in a real practice for a change.

"Thank you for your generous offer, I will take you up on it," she said after a moments consideration.

Renji gave a long stretch to remove the kinks of sitting crouched over his desk in a cramped position and Nanao paused to appreciate the very nice veiw. Renji stretched very well indeed. He caught her staring, smiled and motioned her over.

"I was thinking about calling it a night anyway," he said, his attention turning and focusing on her.

"Oh so I'm just a distration to you am I?" she inquired.

"But a welcome one," he tugged her over onto his lap.

His hands felt nice as they started roaming over the front of her thin yukata, caressing her through the fabric. His other hand slid around her waist and started working on untying the cord over her obi and she did nothing more than twitch slightly in reaction rather than actually trying to belt him that time. He leaned down and started kissing her deftly, toungue smoothing over her own making her feel hot and fluttery in anticipation. He had just gotten her belt loosened so that they could get deeper into the proceedings when her Soul Pager suddenly went off. Nanao was sorely tempted to ignore it, but she knew that if she did, her Captain would come looking for her. She wasn't quite ready to let him find her in the arms of another man just yet.

Renji was apparently all for the idea of ignoring the summons for he slid a hand in through the fold of her yukata and started massaging her breast with his warm large hand, causing her body to jolt in pleasured awareness and a small moan of delight to roll out of her. The push-pull sensations on her hypersensitive flesh heated her body, making her almost need to pant in the suddenly too-warm air. What he did to her! He pushed the garment off her shoulders and started kissing across her neck, suckling on the sensitive flesh where her neck and shoulders joined. She sighed conentedly at the treatment, deciding that whatever it was could just damn well wait a few minutes.

The pager went off again. She grumbled to herself even as she reluctantly pushed him away and glanced irritatedly at the indetification box. Her Captain alright, no doubt drinking with Captain Ukitake again and summoning her on some stupid, half-drunken whim to see about something her could just as easily have seen to in the morning. She knew his intent was always to try to get her to spend her free time with him, his invitations for her to join them were predictable as the the sun rising, but in nanao's veiw they were annoying importunings on her already truncated scedule and limited private life. Especially right then!

"Looks like duty calls," Renji said sympatetically.

"Does your Captain ever do this to you?" she complained uncharacteristically.

"From time to time he has to call me in, but it's always for squad business," renji replied. "We don't exactly swim in the same social pond y'know."

"I thought you two had his sister in common," she said, a little surprised to hear that the two of them didn't have a greater degree of personal contact with each other. She had assumed that the Captain of Sixth at least invited his lieutenant over for dinner every once in a while, if only to keep track of his progress with swordsmanship training.

"Well, yes," Renji scratched the back of his head uncomfortably. "But it's not really the kinda situation that makes fer a good fellow-feeling between us. We're at odds about her more often than not, t' be honest."

"Oh."

She had assumed that Rukia was the reason why Renji had gotten into the squad in the first place.

"Better get goin' I guess," Renji said, clearly a little put out by the interruption as well, but taking it with his usual rukongai stoicism. "Better see what that Captain o' yers wants with ya."

Nanao sighed and fixed her robe before heading over to the Captain's Quarters of Thirteenth. Sure enough, when she got there she found her own Captain and Captain Ukitake already on their third bottle of sake with a game of shogi between them. Rukia Kuchiki sat properly nearby, along with the two (mostly inebriated) squabbling Third Seats, filling out squad paperwork.

"Yes Captain?" she asked in a perfectly bland tone (somehow managing to keep her annoyance from showing too much).

"Ah! Nanao-chan!" he greeted pleasantly.

She gave him an impatient stare that said without words that he had better get to the point concisely and stop wasting her time.

"I was just wondering if you had finished the requistions and supplies manifests for the month,' he said.

It was so obviously a ploy to waste her time that she didn't dignify it with a response other than to give him one of her speaking looks. By now he should be so long-familiar with her every mood and expression that he should have been able to decipher it easily. Though he clearly did, he chose to ignore the silent reprimand.

"Well anyway, sit down sit sown!" he waved her over to a chair. "You can keep Kuchiki-chan over there busy while I rob her Captain of his weeks earnings."

Normally nanao would have turned on her heel and went right back to what she'd been doing (unless her Captain insisted and so then she was stuck for it) but it afforded her the unusual opportunity to get to know the object of her new lovers tender affection.

Nanao discretely examined the younger woman and didn't see anything to arouse such persistant ardour in a man as passionate and (relatively) mature as Abarai was.

:_She's sort of small and scrawny_,: Ise noted with an honesty that came from not having to voice her observations to anyone else.

What what she'd observed of the younger Kuchiki's behavior made her seem aloof, and a little bit immature and childish. The impression wasn't helped any by the fact that the young woman was currently working on a...

:I_s that a picture-book_?" Ise wondered to herself in disbelief.

A further glance over her shoulder confirmed that it was indeed a picture book. The artwork was on par with that of a mildly talented seven year old and it depicted scenes of bunnies and (were they bears or badgers?) dressed in Soul Reaper uniforms performing duties in the Mortal Realm.

:_I wonder if she and Kusajishi get together on some afternoons and scribble_,: Ise thought to herself.

She didn't really get what Renji saw in her, but... well, that was love she supposed, if there were any explaining it then it wouldn't be love.

:_But one would think that he'd have found someone a little more_...: Ise's thoughts petered off.

A little more what, exactly?

:Mature maybe. I mean, it's pretty clear to me that he's after settling down with the woman he loves. I could see him with a small tribe of screaming heathens.:

He'd always been very good at keeping his former lieutenant out of trouble, and if a person could handle Yachiru Kusajishi, he could handle anything! Ise tried to picture him actually getting Rukia Kuchiki to settle down into married life with him and the idea seemed sadly absurd. Rukia just didn't seem like she'd fit being married very well, she just didn't seem... _womanly_ enough.

:_I know she's upwards around a century old, but she really doesn't give off that impression. It's more like she fits right in with those school-aged mortal children she hangs about with. Maybe that's why I have such a hard time taking her seriously_.:

The fact that she was short and tiny just made the over-all impression of immaturity that much worse.

:_Really, I don't see it. What is there about her that has him killing himself to make Lieutenant and get strong enough to defeat his own Captain just so that he can try to win her back_?: Ise wondered to herself.

It really was one of the worst kept secrets in the Seireitei after all. All the Lieutenants knew about it (mainly because Kira was a loquacious drunk and Rangiku couldn't resist talking about such a sweet peice of gossip). It was all over the Woman's Society anyway, and most women found it very romantic and chivalrous, and wished that they had a man who would work so hard just to be with them.

:_Am I... jealous_?: she wondered at herself.

It was ridiculous. After all they had only been lovers for a few days. Certainly she knew she had no real claim on him, he was the one doing her the favor rather than the other way around. He was a good lover and, she was coming to slowly see, a very good man as well, but he was not hers and never would be. He had made it plain from the start that his heart was already spoken for.

:_Maybe not **jealous**, exactly_,: Ise understood after a long moment's contemplation.

She was feeling a very feminine sort of competitiveness with this "rival" (who didn't even have the awareness to realize that something she was too oblivious to understand that she owned was coveted by others!). There was also a healthy dose of pique mixed in with it... Ise was a little bit irritated by the fact that in brains, talent, possibly looks and definitely height she should be the clear winner in a contest between them but if one were to ask Renji Abarai which was the better woman he would answer in Rukia's favor.

:_There's no helping it I suppose, it is what it is_,: she thought with a philosphical sigh.

She couldn't help but envy the woman a little for the serious devotion the woman possessed even if she didn't know it. Ise knew that Kyouraku was devoted to her, and she had to admit (though only to herself) respected, sometimes even revered, him as her Captain, but trying to be comfortable around Kyouraku the man was another matter altogether. Her heart was not settled on the idea of letting him win her over just yet... not when he still held so many of the cards. If she were going to return his love, she wanted it to be on her terms, as his equal. Right now, there were too many things in thier dynamic over which her Captain had control, Nanao Ise was no-one's kept woman. She needed to fly on her own before she settled into her nest.


	7. Chapter 7

Having gotten to know someone who, under ordinary circumstances would have been just a comrade (at best), Renji actually considered her merits for a moment. Not as a lover and a potential life-mate of course, his heart already belonged to another and always had, but as a person. Ise had always given off this aura of intimidating perfection, enough so that it was off-putting (which was probably the point) but he knew her a little better now, and he could see that her don't touch me persona was just her way of getting a little space and privacy for her to be herself.

:_If she could make it out from under the thumb of that Captain of hers_...: he thought, a brilliant Renji-ish plan beginning to form inside of his mind.

He turned the idea over in his head, looking at some of the different angles and advantages.

:_After all, she's older than a quarter of the other Lieutenants, myself included. She basically runs her squad, because from everything I've heard and seen her captain can't be bothered to do it himself_.:

Which meant that he was taking advantage of her.

:_She's real smart. She's real loyal_.:

With all of the crap she had to put up with in her own squad and from her own Captain, Renji wouldn't have blamed her if she had signed up on Aizen's team and buggered the hell out with Gin and Tousen just to get away from the sexual harassment!

:_I'd put down my pay for the next year on Ise being more than smart enough to pass the Captain's test_,: Renji thought, grinning.

So... smart, capable, loyal, certainly qualified to run her own squad.

:_She shoulda ben moved outta the nest and into a squad of her own long before now_.:

But Renji and everyone else knew exactly why she hadn't been. Her own Captain was overprotective (and not to mention probably jealous, not of her, but of anyone else jumping his claim) and had a vested interest in seeing to it that she was not transferred out from under his over-zealous protection.

:_Yeah, he ain't doin' her any favors with that one_,: Renji thought with a snort.

In his book, you didn't protect a person by trying to shelter them, you helped them get stronger so that they could look out for themselves in case anything ever happened to you.

:_Ise's more than ready ta take charge of her own situation, the only real roadblock on the path to her own independence is that Captain of hers_.:

Her very well-liked and not to mention well-connected Captain.

:_Lessee here, if Ise were gonna go up for her own Captaincy_...:

Renji didn't know whether or not she had mastered the ban release, if she had, she could just take the taishu, the captains proficiency exam, and be done with it.

:_If she doesn't have bankai and I can't get it out of her, we'll just go the recommendation route_,: Renji thought with a shrug.

Why was he so determined to get her elected and into her own place? It wasn't just for her own merits. He'd of course be happy to see her well-settled and independent, Renji was the sort to want what was best for a friend, and that was exactly why he was plotting. Fifth squad had lost a very well-liked and well-respected captain but worse, they'd lost him to betrayal. Momo in particular was still taking it hard and Renji felt so terrible for her and helpless to have any way to help make it better.

:_Momo needs someone she can rely on, someone she knows she can trust absolutely to help build up her faith in the Thirteen Court Guard Squads again, as well as he faith in herself_.:

More had been lost in that betrayal than just three captains, it had shaken and in some cases shattered an heretofore rock-solid faith in the position of captaincy. Case in point, for Kira Izuru the faith that had been held for the position of captaincy had been so unshakeable that he'd raised his sword against a beloved comrade on his captain's orders because he had had faith that in the end a captain of the court guard squads would never issue and order that was not justified.

:_People have lost that and no mistake about it_,: Renji thought with a distant pity for his friends.

Renji himself wasn't suffering under the same disillusionment that Momo and Kira were, but that was probably partly due to his unique situation. After Aizen had decided he was too "unmanageable" (whatever the hell that meant) and moved him from Fifth Squad to Eleventh, Renji had landed in a situation that nurtured his natural independence. In Eleventh Squad, all that mattered was the strength you could bring to the feild, and if you wanted to get stronger, the other squad members were more than happy to brawl with you to improve your fighting skill. Even the Captain of Eleventh was of the mind that he only held his position until someone stronger than he was came along.

When he'd become Lieutenant of Sixth Squad even, his natural independence was still needed. Granted, Sixth squad was far more regulated (and uptight) than his former barracks, but there had been a matter (Rukia's execution) that had called for a difference in opinion with the Captain. As far as Renji was concerned, putting aside their differences as men and his own desire to hand the Kuchiki's ass back to him and take Rukia back, one of his duties as a Lieutenant was to disagree with the captain when he thought he was wrong. Any idiot could handle being surrounded by yes-men and nodding sycophants, it took a rare breed of leader to hold a position in which people were going to disagree with you. Even if he didn't really like Kuchiki, he _respected_ him, and was grateful to him, for keeping Renji on board as his lieutenant knowing that Renji would stand up and fight to his damn near last drop of blood if he felt his Captain was wrong, regardless of the fact that the man outranked and outclassed him.

:_This isn't about me an' Captain, this is about Momo and Ise_.:

Renji was after securing for his fragile, precious little friend, the kind o leadership she needed, and her squad needed, to rebuild their own pride and their faith in the position of Captaincy.

:_Ise can do it_,: Renji acknowledged. :_She has all the other criteria of an excellent Captain, all we need to make sure of is her fighting skill_.:

Well, that and actually getting her into the position of Captain around her own Captain's very-likely-to-be vehement protests.

:_Shouldn't be too hard, even if her captain is very well connected_.:

The man was one of the oldest and well-respected Captains in Seireitei. He was the favored son of the head captain himself, and Head Captain might choose to ignore Ise's candidacy in the interests of keeping the Eight Squad running and not offending his favorite son. In addition, the man was friends with the Captain of Thirteenth.

:_That's three Captain's against... but it could be worked around_.:

Renji went over in his mind his own connections and who he might get on his side to overrule Kyoraku's objections.

:_There's my own Captain_,: Renji thought with a bit of pardonable pride.

Perhaps he was just as susceptible as any other lieutenant was for having faith in his squad's leadership. He was certain that if Kuchiki could be shown that Ise was an excellent candidate, the man wouldn't care who was against her move, he'd throw in with her and back her up once he had decided to.

_:I could get Captain Zaraki to go along with it, if for no other reason than that it might result in a beautiful brawl_!:

That was two Captain's possibly on board.

:_Tenth will probably go for it, if nothing else Hitsugaia would want to see Momo well taken care of_.:

Basically the same motivations as Renji.

:_That's three. I might be able to bribe Captain Unohana or appeal to her better nature._:

Captain Unohana had plenty of better nature, and Renji wondered if it irked her under that carefully serene smile of hers to see a young woman being constantly harassed by her superior officer.

:_That's a possibly four Captains I, or we, might be able to win to our cause_,: Renji thought. :_No telling which way Komamura of Seventh will jump but I think we'll have to say that he'll side with the Head Captain._:

Four for, and four against. Three Captain's missing.

:_Taking into account those missing captains, that leaves the number of votes at an even ten. The only Captain's possibly still on the fence are Second and Twelfth. Both of those squads are so specialized that they could possibly care less about who is running Fifth Squad. It might be, that with so many Captains out of the vote, Head Captain will lower the recommendation number from six reccommendations and the okay of three of the remaining seven._:

If they were going to try to stick to the old numbers, Ise would need the approval of nearly every Captain still left, a total of nine. Basically, every single Captain except the ones who were likely to object on Kyoraku's behalf. There might be a way to finangle the numbers a little lower due to emergency.

:_I'll ask Kuchiki, he'd know if anyone would_.:

The first hurdle however would be testing out Ise's fighting abilities, and training her if need be, then they could worry about politicking with the remaining captains for recommendations.

:_And Momo will get the Captain she both needs and deserves_.:

Ise and Momo would make a fine pair for the running of Fifth, Renji could foresee many happy years ahead of such a good match.

:_Heh listen to me, I sound like a yenta. I'll have concerned fathers coming to me yet_!:

* * *

**Sorry it's been a while since I updated this, I got sidetracked and never cut out the next chapter. For those who are reading Chasing Shadows I have good news! I've picked it up again and the next chapter should be out by Wednesday! Thanks to all those who read and reveiwed this last chapter and I look forward to hearing what you all think about Renji's little master plan.**


	8. Chapter 8

Ise tried not to feel so amused about the secret note that Renji had slipped her when he had dropped off his squads paperwork. It was very unusual for a lieutenant to be running paperwork errands, that sort of work was always shuffled down to the lower seated offiers, but she wasn't going to complain.

"**_Meet me at my place, bring your zanpakutou_**," the note had read.

The two Sixth squad hall guards posted outside the squad hall bowed respectfully to the visiting lieutenant and allowed her entry into their demesne. Renji was waiting for her outside of his lieutenants quarters dressed for a fight, his own zanpakutou sheathed at his side.

Ise was the definition of a bookish desk jockey and as such, had only very rare experience with actual combat. From all reports, Renji was the precise opposite; one was far more likely to see his face in a brawl or a battlefield than filling out paperwork (and by all accounts, his skills and kido had always been sub-par ever since his days at the academy). Still, Momo had always spoken well of him, and Ise herself had always noticed that he had an aura of easy-natured energy about him that spoke of someone who liked to fight, but didn't fight purely for the sake of fighting, she could see that he was someone who stood firm in what he believed.

:_Like a big, dumb, lovable houndog_,: she thought with amusement. :_Always happy to see you, always ready to play, but hell of four paws when his person is being messed with._:

"Ready for a good fight?" Renji asked cheerfully.

He did most things pretty cheerfully, one of the things Momo liked best about him was his unwavering optimism and his unshakable faith in his own ability to see things through by following the path he most believed in.

"I haven't fought in a long time," Ise said with a small smile. "But yes, I'm ready."

"Good, 'cuz we're testing for Bankai, follow me."

Ise stared at him, frozen in shock for a very long minute.

:_Did he really just say that_?: she wondered to herself.

And he'd said it so off-hand, like he'd announced they were going to have noodles that night instead of sushi.

"W-wait! Lieutenant Abarai," Ise protested automatically. "Did you really just say we were going to try for bankai? I assume you mean yours!" She called to his retreating broad backside.

"Nope!" he called back to her. "Hurry it up missy, we ain't got all day!"

Ise hastened her footsteps to catch up with him and looked up at him from beside him.

"Abarai," she began severly. "Just because you can achieve bankai doesn't necessarily follow that everyone else can just because they want to."

"_Do_ you want to?" he replied.

"I..." she blinked, brought up short by the question.

"No-one's really ever asked me before," she said honestly.

Ise took a long moment to consider it while Renji led her not just out of the Sixth Squad Hall but out into the less densely populated sections of the Seireitei. She was surprised to note absently, while she considered the question he had put to her with all due gravity, that there was a deep, rocky wood she hadn't really been aware of inside the seireitei.

:Do I want to achieve bankai?: she asked herself, feeling a small sense of wonder at the novelty of the question.

Somewhere in the back of her mind she had always unconsciously thought of bankai as something that happened to _other_ people. After all, _she_ had a Captain that was one of the oldest warriors in the Court Guard Squads (as well as one of the laziest) there had been no real need for her to exert herself to mastering her sword. Ise was called for investigative and messenger duties far far _far_ more often than she was ever called into battle... and if she was called into battle, he Captain was always there to make sure she didn't get hurt.

:_But I pride myself on my proficiency_,: Ise thought.

The fact that she was a master of kido as well as the queen of bureaucracy was something she had always been very proud of, somehow she had come to consider martial skill as being of lesser importance... possibly because she was not as naturally adept at physical fighting as she was at skills that relied on her innate intelligence. There was no real reason for her not to be as proficient in martial skill as she was in everything else. Looked at that way, her lack of skill seemed odd, as well as being a dangerous blind spot.

:_Do I want to achieve bankai_?:

Now that the matter had been put on the table...

:_Yes_,: she realized to her great surprise. :_Yes I do_.:

Ise prided herself in her proficiency at everything it took to be a good Soul Reaper, the fact that she did not have a bankai was a glaring blemish on an otherwise perfect record. Other than that...

"I... I _want_ it!" she gasped out, realizing the truth for herself.

She wanted to be _strong_, she wanted to show that Captain of hers that she wasn't a child to be patted on the head or chucked on the cheek and told to go run along and play and let the _real_ fighters do their work anymore. She wanted to be everything she could be, everything she was capable of being. She wanted to discover her true limits and then to surpass them.

"Yes Mister Abarai," she said firmly having abruptly discovered a truth within herself. "I want to acheive bankai."

"Then you can do it," he said firmly.

She looked at him in some surprise. He said it so easily, as though it were a fact as obvious as the sun rising in the east.

"Y-You really think so?"

"Abso-posi-you better believe it!" he said with a smile. "If you're willing to go up to your limits and then over them, if you're willing to fight until you can't fight anymore and then keep fighting. If you're determined enough and brave enough to face the best and worst within you and conquer it... you can achieve it. Bankai ain't a place for half-measures and it ain't something that anyone else can do for you. When you face your zanpakutou in a fight for bankai, you face everything in yourself. Bankai is nothing less than total and complete mastery of all that's within you. You have to be absolutely _certain_ in your own ability to be your own master and absolutely determined in your will to seize control of your own destiny. Anything less than this will result in failure."

"Oh..." Ise said, reflecting on it a little. She nodded to herself, she was more than ready and she wasn't going to be held back anymore.

Hidden in a cleft between two rocks was a large hole that looked like it had been blown directly into the hillside.

"Watch yer step," Renji said as he unsealed his zanpakutou and hooked the top of his saw-edged serrations over the lip of the hole.

Nanao squawked a little awkwardly when he suddenly hooked an arm around her waist and pulled her in close to his chest then half a heartbeat later dropped down. They fell for what seemed like a small eternity, then they abruptly slowed and landed gently on the ground in a dark place. Renji gave a small popping flare of his reiatsu and the dark place abruptly turned to bright daylight.

Ise looked around her in amazement.

"We're outside? But I thought we were underground."

"We are, as far as I can tell. This place was made to look like outside. It's a training arena. I achieved bankai here, and so did the mortal boy Ichigo. From what I know, this place was built about a hundred years ago or so by Urahara and Shihouin to train in. It's a secret, so don't go tellin' no-body."

"Are we allowed to be here?" she asked.

"I don't see why not," Renji said with a shrug. "Urahara and Shihouin are in no position to object, besides they already have one in the mortal realm, and Ichigo could probably care less. It's a great place, maybe the only place, the train for Bankai in perfect secrecy so..."

"Alright," she said with a small smile.

She could feel her zanpaktou getting a little excited, as it always did when Ise faced the possibility of stepping out from behind her Captain's shadow and getting to do something on her own for a change.

"Alright," Renji agreed with an answering smile. He took a position a few feet away from her and turned to face her, Zabimaru already out and unsealed. "Let's get this party started."

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**Thanks so much for all my wonderful reveiwers, sorry that next chapter of Chasing Shadows hasn't shown up yet, I'm working on it. I hope you liked this chapter (though it really was more of a tease, wasn't it?) and are looking forward to the next one. Ise's zanpakutou is never revealed except for a in one small picture in an art book where it looks like one of those small curved blades that women sometimes hide up thier sleeves in historical dramas. So I had to sort of take my own interpretation with it. Look forward to it please!  
**


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